A shading device of this kind is generally known for rear side panes of passenger cars. A shading device of this kind has a flexible shading structure, which is mounted on a winding shaft so as to be able to be wound up and unwound. The winding shaft is positioned in a receiving region behind a door trim panel underneath a vehicle sill and is mounted rotatably in the receiving region. At its front end region in the pull-out direction, the flexible shading structure has a dimensionally stable pull-out profile which is guided displaceably in lateral guides, rigidly connected to the door, at its opposite end faces in the vertical direction of the vehicle and thus transfers the shading structure from a rest position to a shading position. In the rest position of the shading structure, the pull-out profile is also stowed underneath the vehicle sill in the receiving region behind the door inner trim panel. The receiving region has a passage slot which extends over the entire length of the pull-out profile and allows the pull-out profile to lower into the receiving region and to move out of the receiving region in the direction of the shading position. The length of the passage slot is slightly greater than the length of the pull-out profile, in order to allow the pull-out profile to pass through.
The object of the invention is to make available a shading device of the type mentioned at the outset, which permits reliable and quiet positioning of the pull-out profile in the receiving region.
This object is achieved by the fact that elastically resilient damping elements are arranged on opposite longitudinal walls of the passage slot, which damping elements flank the pull-out profile in the rest position of the shading structure and support the pull-out profile at a distance from the longitudinal walls. According to the invention, it is possible either for an individual damping element to be provided on each of the two opposite longitudinal walls of the passage slot, or for a plurality of damping elements to be provided in the region of each longitudinal wall and distributed over the length of the respective longitudinal wall. The solution according to the invention means that the pull-out profile, in the rest position of the shading structure, is centered in the receiving region and held spaced apart from the longitudinal walls of the passage slot. This prevents the pull-out profile from striking the longitudinal walls of the passage slot or of the receiving region while a corresponding motor vehicle is being driven, which could lead to noises. In addition, wear of the pull-out profile is also reduced, since the pull-out profile does not bear directly on the longitudinal walls of the passage slot and, accordingly, cannot rub along these longitudinal walls. The passage slot can preferably be closed by a cover, which is transferred to an open position or a closed position depending on a state of the pull-out profile. The solution according to the invention is particularly advantageously suitable for use in passenger cars, preferably for shading side panes of a rear region of the passenger car. In the same way, the shading device according to the invention is provided for shading a rear window or also for shading a glass roof region of the passenger car. The shading device according to the invention can also be used in heavy goods vehicles and utility vehicles such as buses or in rail vehicles.
In one embodiment of the invention, the damping elements are configured as elastomeric lugs which are held on the longitudinal walls of the passage slot and protrude freely toward a center of the passage slot. Toward a center of the passage slot signifies that the elastomeric lugs protrude inward into the passage slot with a component in the direction of an opposite longitudinal wall. Preferably, the elastomeric lugs protrude downward from an upper face of the passage slot into the receiving region, preferably obliquely downward.
In a further embodiment of the invention, several elastomeric lugs are provided on each longitudinal wall and are arranged at a distance from each other in the longitudinal direction of the passage slot. Preferably, the elastomeric lugs on each longitudinal wall are arranged at uniform intervals.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the elastomeric lugs on the opposite longitudinal walls are in each case arranged lying diametrically opposite each other in pairs. In this way, the diametrically opposite elastomeric lugs form pairs that support the pull-out profile between them.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the elastomeric lugs on the opposite longitudinal walls are alternatingly offset in relation to each other in the longitudinal direction. In this way, the mutually offset elastomeric lugs on the opposite longitudinal walls can each protrude into corresponding gaps between the elastomeric lugs of the respective other longitudinal wall, without bearing on each other.
In a further embodiment of the invention, an individual elastomeric lug is provided on each longitudinal wall and in each case extends at least over a large part of a length of the passage slot. Accordingly, the two elastomeric lugs on the opposite longitudinal walls each have a length which corresponds at least to a large part of a length of the passage slot, preferably at least 70% of a length of the passage slot.
In a further embodiment of the invention, each elastomeric lug has a keder profile which is held in a keder groove of the corresponding longitudinal wall of the passage slot. In this way, each elastomeric lug can be drawn into the corresponding keder groove of the longitudinal wall of the passage slot or of the receiving region.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the longitudinal walls are part of a cassette housing which constitutes the receiving region for the shading structure. The cassette housing supports a winding shaft, on which the flexible shading structure is held so as to be able to be wound up and unwound. The cassette housing is mounted rigidly on the vehicle. If the shading device is provided in the region of a side pane of a rear side door, the rigid mounting of the cassette housing on the vehicle is to be understood as a rigid mounting of the cassette housing on the door.
In a further embodiment of the invention, each elastomeric lug has at least one wing portion which integrally adjoins the keder profile and which protrudes freely from the longitudinal wall toward the center of the passage slot. The wing portion is elastically resilient and can conform to the pull-out profile as soon as the pull-out profile is positioned at the height of the elastomeric lugs in the passage slot. Accordingly, the pull-out profile is elastically supported and centered between opposite wing portions of the elastomeric lugs.
In a further embodiment of the invention, each elastomeric lug has several wing portions which are separate from each other and which are each arranged in one piece with the keder profile of the elastomeric lug. The separation of the wing portions is preferably effected by incisions or slits which extend from the freely protruding end regions of the wing portions in the direction of the keder profile and thus form wing portions which are arranged next to one another in the longitudinal direction of the passage slot and which are elastically resilient independently of one another.
In a further embodiment of the invention, each wing portion is arranged integrally on the keder profile by means of a materially uniform flexure bearing, and each wing portion protrudes from the flexure bearing into the passage slot counter to the pull-out direction of the pull-out profile. In this way, wing portions and keder profiles can be produced in one piece from a suitable elastomeric material. Instead of a single elastomeric material, it is also possible, in particular by co-extrusion, to produce the keder profile and the at least one wing portion of each elastomeric lug from different plastics and yet maintain the integrality between wing portions and keder profiles.
In a further embodiment of the invention, each wing portion, in the unloaded initial state, protrudes at an angle from the longitudinal wall. The inclination of each wing portion extends with direction components to a vertical midplane of the passage slot and downward into the interior of the receiving region, wherein each wing portion, seen in cross section, can have different inclinations in the course of its extent from the keder profile toward its free end. In other words, the respective wing portion can be curved in cross section or can extend in a straight line.
In a further embodiment of the invention, each keder groove extends continuously along an entire length of the longitudinal wall and is open toward at least one end face of the longitudinal wall. In this way, it is possible for a keder profile of the corresponding elastomeric lug to be drawn from an end face of the longitudinal wall into the corresponding keder groove.
Further advantages and features of the invention will become clear from the claims and also from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention illustrated, with reference to the drawings.